Green Motion Wins Trademark Battle

U.K.-based global car rental company Green Motion has won a trademark dispute with an operator in the Ilford area of London, who registered a company named “Green Motion Car Hire Limited.”

Green Motion first became aware of the company bearing its name in February 2015, and advised the owner that the company’s name infringed upon Green Motion’s U.K. and global trademarks.

Green Motion officials said in a statement that upon further investigation into the similarly named company, they discovered its negative reputation among customers, suppliers, and funders — due to previous county court judgements for non-payment of debt and withholding deposits — was confusing customers and undermining Green Motion’s operations.

While initial efforts to get the car hire firm to change its name were unsuccessful, the original Green Motion appealed to the Companies House to apply the law that eventually forced the company to change its name to “Flex Drive (Ilford) Limited” in July.

"Green Motion has worked extremely hard over the last decade to build its reputation by serving hundreds of thousands of customers in the U.K. and more than 30 global locations,” said Green Motion Founder and CEO Richard Lowden. “We are committed to taking decisive action to defending our brand wherever necessary. This is essential for a successful global franchise business such as ours that trades on its good reputation."